Is A Kindle Appropriate For Young Children? My Thoughts

Alexis has been asking for a Kindle ever since I got my Kindle Touch a few months ago. At first, I didn't feel that at 7 she was old enough to handle the responsibility of taking care of a Kindle. Last week Walmart had a great deal on the $79 Kindle, with the purchase you received a $30 Walmart gift card. That made it $50 and so we took the opportunity to buy one for Alexis.

I was concerned that we would have trouble finding age appropriate books for a young child. Despite my concerns, I am finding many free books available including picture books. Of course, there is always the classic literature available for free as well, such as Black Beauty, The Wizard of Oz,  Robinson Crusoe, etc. At present, we are reading aloud The Railway Children by Edeth Nesbit. It is my hopes that she will tackle some of the classics to read on her own.

There are many websites where you can find free Kindle books for kids. Here are two websites I use and I check often sometimes daily to get the best deals..
ereaderiq.com
http://kids.kindlenationdaily.com

Libraries are also beginning to carry ebooks in the Kindle format, this allows any patron with a library card to borrow ebooks. I have found several juvenile fiction books available including the Magic Treehouse series.

I have also was lucky enough to find this book on sale called My Sister The Vampire #1 Switched by Sienna Mercer. I have been eyeing this book for months since my daughter loves vampires. I bought the Kindle version for $1.99 that was 67% off the normal price. I felt like that was a steal! Amazon has sales regularly.

Alexis also enjoys playing games on her Kindle. Several games are available for free and some are very educational word games. Alexis's favorite games are Every Word, where the goal is to make as many words as you can from a set of letters given, and the classic Dots and Boxes.

My conclusion:  The Kindle was worth every penny spent.  I  download all of the books for Alexis and make sure all books are appropriate. I also check on her frequently to make sure the Kindle is put away properly. I won't allow her to take it to school or use it outdoors without supervision. The only drawback for a child of such a young age is the fact that the pages are all in black and white. Alexis commented, while reading a picture book, that she wished it had color. The Kindle Fire has color but I would not feel comfortable spending $200 on a Kindle Fire to have the color illustrations.

If I come across some exceptional children's book for the Kindle at a great price or for free, I will be posting.